But if this is a smart office, where we’re replacing grey and navy suits, then the next colour options – primarily brown and green – can be a little too rustic.

Even muted browns and greens – like my Rubinacci donegal or Solito escorial – might not be smart enough. It’s just hard for these essentially country colours to be formal.

Oatmeal, or beige, is easier. If this colour has any associations, it is with the linens of summer. But the texture of the cashmere, and some cream in the weave, elevate it above those casual, wrinkled jackets and make it look much more luxurious.

Indeed, this biscuity tone might even be more useful than grey – because it can go with grey itself.

The big issue with grey jackets is they can’t be worn with grey flannel in the winter, or grey fresco in the summer. Oatmeal doesn’t have that problem.

The cloth is Loro Piana 499019 from the cashmere jacketings bunch. It is 320 grams (11 ounces) and 85% cashmere, 15% Super-170s wool. The latter gives it noticeably more body without making it feel any less soft.

The jacket was made by Neapolitan tailor Elia Caliendo, and it is worn with:

Simon, would you advocate this colour/tone as a preferable choice above grey for a first choice of jacket material? I am thinking of making a first step into bespoke jackets particular for the colder months and my initial thoughts were centred a grey herringbone or cashmere. Given their limitations with grey trousers I wonder if this colour or something similar might not be a better idea. (I tend not to wear jeans often but prefer grey flannel or other colours in winter.)

Grey is a hard jacket colour in general, because it can’t go with grey trousers. Not particularly summer. And grey linen can be nice, but it depends a lot on the colour and weave. I might buy in RTW, but be wary of commissioning bespoke in it

That is a fantastic looking jacket and looks great on you! I almost had made it the same cloth and now I’ve seen someone actually style it, I may still take the leap. I think I would have styled it exactly as you have! Very nice indeed. If you don’t mind, could you please share what Elia charges for this jacket? On an aside, the colours in the photos don’t do the garments justice – the trousers look almost grey but it could be that my monitor needs colour calibration!

Elia charges just under 3000 euros for this jacket. The trousers are a very greyed green, yes. It’s a Holland & Sherry flannel. Grey at first glance but definitely green on closer inspection – my favourite thing, subtlety!

Beautiful colour but doesn’t skin tone come more in to play with a colour like this ? I’m thinking President Obama and the tan suit he wore and got more coverage then anything he said at a press conference .

Hi Simon, Thank you for this very interesting post. I think we are all going to reckon that this is a lovely outfit! Yet no matter how many posts you are going to dedicate to this specific area of menswear, the whole topic is going to remain puzzling, I’m afraid. For instance, if I had no idea of the fabrics involved in this outfit, I would have thougt of it as having been made for Spring or Summer. Indeed, anyhow I associate light colors with SS and dark ones with AW. And since I rather wear jackets more often than not, for Winter, for instance, beyond navy, brown and green are the colors I normally consider, expecting of course reaching the highest level of smartness achievable with those colors. Now you say in this post that there is no way to eschew their countrified bent. Thus my question: isn’t possible to escape this brown-green country association by resorting to appopriate accessories such as ties, color and fabric of shirts, trousers and last but not least shoes? Unfortunately, I couldn’t retrieve pics of yourself posted in the past to make the case for the suitability and smartness of brown and green jackets. But they do exist. John

You can certainly mitigate it with the other pieces in the outfit, yes. But for some business environments, they will always be a little casual. Eg I know lawyers who generally wear blazers on a Friday. A cream like this would look smarter than any brown or green.

It’s an interesting point on colours. I don’t tend to think of them seasonally, at least in terms of jackets and trousers. More in accessories like hanks and ties, and even then it’s more on the sunniness or not of the day, rather than the season of the year.

I wonder then if it wouldn’t be fairly helpful to distinguish formality from smartness. Take a look, for instance, at this pic where you stand beside Tommaso. In terms of formality, your entire outfit is perhaps less formal than Tommaso’s. But it is surely as smart as his.http://www.soletopia.com/2014/01/simon-crompton-satoria/ Presumably, there is a sliding scale of formality in the realm of jackets, starting I guess with navy Blazer, even though I’ve never seen its contours.

To digress. Doubtless many of you will have now taken delivery of the latest edition of the ‘Rake’ and are horrified that they have devoted multiple pages promoting the merits of Oxford Bags. What on earth is going on with that publication ? What will we have next, Harry Styles on the cover? Bizarre that attempts at quality men’s style publications always end in tears !

I agree with David’s digression and I’m grateful someone has said something. I have always looked forward to The Rake but have found it has gone downhill in the last 6 months. Please Simon intervene and bring it back to its former glory

Sorry, but for me this colour has no place in a work wardrobe, however casual the environment. Oatmeal/biscuit is just not a proper northern European shade, and I’m not sure it would be seen in the wardrobe of a French, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish chap either. Chaqun a son gout etc…..

Couldn’t agree more with you. I started buying the Take for professional purposes but if they don’t sort out the rubbish they have published over the last two editions I for one am going to cancel my subscription.

I like your thinking but I would have gone for something leaning more towards cream rather than brown. The other option is Armani ‘greige’ a mixture of beige and grey. However everything you say re. colour (green/brown/grey) is correct. Mixing neutral tones such as grey can be difficult, particularly as menswear utilises so few colours for trousers (beige/brown, grey, blue, green). Out of interest how does the Oatmeal match up with Blue and Black?

Simon, I think the jacket looks fine albeit I don’t like patch breast pockets – for me they always look wrong. On another but aligned subject, I’d love you to do a piece on what I would describe as the louche suit, The sort of suit that would be worn by a Jazz singer or an artist or somebody who works in the creative industries or, who is simply too rich to care. A suit which could be worn for every aspect of everyday life with the exception of the formal office environment. One of my favourite style icons is Charlie Watts and I’m not sure he’s ever been near an office in his life unless it was under duress.

I don’t agree that it’s a case of “dressing up”. It’s actually the reverse and is often a real study in the choice of cloth / pattern and adjusting small details to make the suit look more relaxed. When you look at how Charlie Watts wears C&M or how Ferry wears A&S they are great examples of this. A cord suit is a no brainer because the cloth virtually does it for you but move into other fabrics and patterns and that louche look requires more studying.

David’d comments could be made about me! I love tailoring and am a self employed creative (sadly being too rich to care is not one of my problems). Green cord was my solution; great colour against pale flesh. I love cord suits; the chest on yours Simon has amazing shape. Bryan Ferry and Hugh Grant are two others who like louche cord. Lucian Freud’s scarf is possibly too idiosyncratic for others to pull off but nailed louche for me.

Hi Simon I’ve just had a navy hopsack SB jacket made by Elia after your recommendation and I’m really pleased with it, thank you! I’m thinking about having this oatmeal jacket as my next commission, how would this jacket look with denim such as the Levis Kaihara?

“The big issue with grey jackets is they can’t be worn with grey flannel in the winter or grey fresco in the summer..” I don’t like absolute statements like this particularly regarding clothes and find it a bit surprising to find it here – why do you think one can’t wear different shades or textures of grey together in a jacket and trousers combination?

I know what you mean, but I’m really just making the basic point that you wouldn’t wear ones that are both the same grey. You could still wear mid-grey or pale grey jackets with charcoal trousers, for instance. But rarely with a standard mid-grey flannel trouser

Simon, that lapel there is close to perfection. It has a nice thickness to it that is gives a very masculine appearance even though the jacket is of casual make. This style is typical of Elia I presume.

The length of jackets may be deserving of comment please. Do you wear a (fairly formal, structured) jacket where the sleeve is longer than the body, and your backside is poking out beneath the ‘skirt’ (to use an old description)?!

I think this is one of my favourites, it looks incredibly comfortable…is there much structure in the chest and shoulders, or is it completely unlined? If the latter, he’s done a very clean chest, which is not always easy..

It’s the same as all my other Neapolitan pieces (Solito, Rubinacci etc) – only light structure in the chest and light padding in the shoulders. You can see my other Caliendo pieces for the same structure here as well:http://www.permanentstyle.com/tag/elia-caliendo

While watching again your outfit, it dawned on me that you have indeed paired this jacket with green trousers. To me it looks really fine. But why would the green color stop shouting for country in this specific combo? To stick to the level of formality you have in mind here – due to the environment – while maintaining a high level of smatness, I wonder whether you wouldn’t achieve both if the jacket were just paired with mid grey, say, flanel.

Nice. I’m always wondering what an alternative color to blue is. And while gray is the obvious choice it is always a little limiting. One tailor I respect said the most versatile travel blazer for the cooler months was black cashmere. His argument is that it could be dressed down during the day and dressed up in the evenings and could be paired with just about any shade of gray trousers. But a summer alternative is perhaps a little harder. Does one stick with blue and change the weave or pick a pattern–a window pane, for example? This same tailor suggested a dark green worsted. Its association with golf notwithstanding, I think it’s a great idea.

Both black and green blazers were meant to be worn with gray trousers. The green, I would imagine, could also be worn with a beige.

These answers were given to my pestering about a blue blazer substitute. Which sort of begs the question: what is it about blue and gray that makes is such a hard and fast combination? What would be so odd about wearing blue trousers with a gray blazer?

Simon, I agree; indeed, I would place on top of my list of sartorial quandaries. An article devoted to it would, I’m sure, garner a lot of interest. I frame the issue this way: I do not have to wear suits to work even though I work in finance and see a lot of clients. My “go to” outfit is blue blazer paired with grey trousers. In the summer months I will often wear cream trousers (although more for dressy social events than when visiting clients). In the cooler months the options expand: tweeds and flannels galore. But in the warmer months what really are the choices beyond the blue and gray? Sure, there are some nice window panes. But let’s say we were sticking with solids–where do go? By implication you dismiss the inverse (gray blazer, blue trousers) and dark green doesn’t seem to have tickled your fancy (I will post a picture of my the blazer when it arrives shortly). As always, your thoughts would be most welcome!

Hi, Black blazer? Dark green .. worsted? Honestly, these are not colors you should be considereing for what you seem to have in mind. Take a look at past posts here. You could manage to come up with better ideas.

Dear Simon, please advise me what amount of shirt cuff should show for tweed jacket sleeves? My RTW 4OR 3-buttones must be shortened; my shirt sleeve is 31″; the seamstress claims now after shortening only three buttons have room after shortening and she says the distance from shortened tweed jacket sleeve end to first button end cannot be 4cm, maybe maximum 3 1/2 cm. Please advise!

Hello Simon! I greatly enjoy your blog and I’ve learnt loads from it. I’ve always had an interest in tailored clothing and this blog explores tailoring like no other. I’ve had a jacket made last year, and since I forgot to mention it, my odd jacket doesn’t have swelled edges. So, I was wondering if this is something that can be done later? Thank you in advance for your advice and time!

I notice that the boutonniere hole has been cut in the same keyhole fashion as the buttonholes. Is that by accident or design? I thought the use of keyhole boutonnieres was solely restricted to the more ‘affordable’ end of ready to wear?

This prompted a few thoughts – how do you describe/define your own personal style? I just noticed the Sexton picture you posted on Instagram. It seems to be the diametrical opposite to this wonderful jacket. All great ensembles but they seem so different. Would be grateful on your views on wardrobe building this way – do you think it’s better to focus on one consistent “style” or to include as many as possible.

Hello Simon apologies if my question is covered elsewhere but I looked and am still struggling hence asking

I can see that this oatmeal colour is pretty versatile and you can wear many trousers with it. I think you can also wear many trousers with an odd brown or green jacket

However, I am struggling with a lighter grey jacket like in your Caliendo denim post, or a navy jacket. Are they really that versatile to be the top 2 odd jacket colours?

What are the trouser colours you can wear with them? Are we basically stuck with cream or charcoal trousers for mid grey jackets? Or navy chinos, cream or light grey trousers for navy jackets. I am not sure brown trousers would look as great

Beat you to it Simon! The boys at Patrick Johnson in Melbourne made this exact jacket for me in precisely this cloth and in the same cut about a year ago. It is quarter lined with very little padding and three patch.

I love it with dark green and brown cords and with a hefty creamish cotton. Unlike you I do wear it with grey flannel which seems to lend a little formality to it.

We also appear to both have in the works a grey cashmere herringbone. Again, mine mimics yours in vut and colour but the cloth is Loro Piano.

I’ll say hi to them for you on my next – of far too many – visit.

Your website remains a precious resource to me, perhaps because I seem to have so much in common with what is featured on it.

Simon, I think it is your grey cashmere which has already been made I was referring to…I have one in the same colour and style in cashmere being made up by P Johnston. Naturally they are MTM but I have a lot from them and have always been delighted with their fit. On the point about wearing a grey odd jacket with grey pants, I do this quite a lot – and rarely with charcoal pants…more mid grey pants, lighter grey cashmere jacket. There is an elderly Japanese guy at Pitti who I think is a master in subtlety. He pairs a grey herringbone jacket with flannel pants in the same shade. Only up close can you see its not a suit. This is of course unconventional but I like it – a departure from the view that there must always be strong contrast between odd pants and jackets. Just a different approach I guess. All the best. Rob.

I’ve been following your site since it started. After having a very bad bespoke experience with Thom Sweeney I had a jacket made by Elia Caliendo exactly the same style and make as the SB’s you’ve had made and he has done a superb job for me too. I’ve also recently had an SB made by Solito. Could you tell me the difference in their styles and which you prefer?

There is very little difference in style. Elia does a straighter DB lapel normally, but that can also be easily changed. The difference is in finishing and to an extent service. Elia’s being better, and more expensive as a result

Hi Simon Thanks for the reply. I’ve found the Solito jacket to be shorter and much closer fitting. Is this your experience as well? Which maker has the best looking and fitting jacket out of the two in your opinion?

Hi Simon One thing has been bugging me about my hopsack jacket from Elia, it probably seems silly to you but here goes………..The fit is spot on, when I have my arms at my sides in the usual instagram pose (!) the sleeve head where the spalla camicia folders are, sits perfectly. Is this supposed to deform and ‘kink’ when for example you raise your arms etc? It would be very helpful if you had a video or images of the jackets and how they change when you move.

Thank you Simon. I hope you didn’t think that was too idiotic a question, I’ve come to sartorial appreciation a little later than most and many of the examples of good fit are touted on instagram and other social media sites. Obviously most are staged and you never see movement so it’s tough to know what is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in terms of fit.

Hi Simon Sorry to keep asking you the same question but I need you to put my mind at ease: I’ve had two SB jackets made by Elia and one by Luigi Solito. I love Elia and his work but I did notice a difference between the two. On their recent visit to London I let Luigi and Luca examine my Caliendo navy hopsack SB. Luigi said that it was very well made with a very clean chest and back but that it was in his opinion very old fashioned and typically neapolitan, something that his father would make as a matter of course, but he didn’t like it at all with all due respect to Elia. Luca added that luigi also made higher armholes and longer roll and position of lapels. Do you agree with this assessment? I thought Elia made a really superb jacket but Luigi has confused me a little.

Elia’s might be a tad more old fashioned, yes, but only in Neapolitan terms. I generally prefer it – modern often means pushing more on slimness in body and arm, as well as that longer lapel which isn’t perhaps as good on a three button style

Do you think Elia makes the armholes high enough so that there is little distortion in the body of the jacket when making big arm movements? By the way, when will you be doing an article on the pitti suit Elia made for you? Thank you for all your help Simon, yours is by far the most useful, thoughtful and honest blog on the internet.

Just wanted to know your thoughts on what fabric would be good for an “all around” versatile sports jacket. I am thinking of getting navy and grey but I want a fabric that will go well with all of the following: (i) wool suit trousers (ii) jeans, (iii) cream chinos, (iv) mid grey flannel trousers etc.

I know some people who have navy sports jackets but they are in various fabrics depending on the season (i.e. linen for summer, tweed, flannel for winter etc.). I’m essentially looking for a fabric that I can match with the various aforementioned trousers.

If you want it to go with denim, you’re looking at the more casual materials – tweed or donegal patterns, which can be rendered in real tweed, wool or even cashmere. Navy is the smartest and will struggle to go with denim, as the most casual of the trousers you list.

I’ve had Elia make me a few jackets but I am now looking for a navy cashmere jacket for my next bespoke piece, something as versatile as your navy solito jacket. Something to be dressed up or down, with and without a tie and worn mostly with different shades of grey, green and cream trousers (but not denim!) What shade would be best, lighter or darker for it to be most versatile?

Hi Simon I’ve had a jacket made in 400g tweed, a beautiful glen check. Do you think a jacket of this weight could be used in autumn and spring or is it approaching the heaviness of a coat? Also what does this weight do for drape and fitting?

It should be ok for some autumn and spring days, but not all. The weight will be good for drape, but weight isn’t the only factor – eg if it is a spongey tweed it will not hang as well as something smoother.

I just re-read this post since I am getting a jacket made in oatmeal a decision which has been largely inspired by your post! Cloth I have chosen is Loro Piana 368645 (330 gr 100% cashmere) from their Woolen Jackets bunch). Question I wanted to ask was – which colour did you choose for the body lining? I am thinking of going with dark brown for the body lining – the buttons will also be dark brown horn.

Hi Simon, I’m a regular reader of your fantastic site and as a result will be finally biting the bullet by having a jacket made with Elia Caliendo. I’m really quite inexperienced with menswear, have certainly never had anything bespoke before, so am quite nervous about getting this significant decision ‘right’!

I’m after a non-navy jacket made in either a tweed or cashmere, to wear with jeans/grey flannels/ olive chinos for as much of the year as possible. I am really keen on your grey/brown jackets like this one and the Permanent Style Tweed… Is there a particular couple of choices of brown/grey donegal cashmere that you would recommend? Inspired to ask you by other readers’ comments (Kashif, KC) also looking for a jacket alternative to navy.

Secondly – How important is a dark/south asian skin tone in making this sort of choice (I have heard that oatmeal beige makes less sense for those with darker skin?). As with everyone on here, I’m really grateful for your advice and honesty in sharing all your experience on here (good and bad!)

Thanks Simon, really helpful advice. Are there any other specific Donegal cashmeres or tweeds in this sort of grey/brown palette that you might recommend readers to opt for? I wondered if you keep a selection in mind. In your jacketing post you mention how hard it is for the inexperienced to visualise the final article from the small swatches – I’m certainly suffering that!

Hi Simon, Having the basics covered (and some “mistakes” as well), I am looking at commissioning my next odd jacket. I love the idea of oatmeal, but previously had thought about something more similar to the brown/rusty colour, similar to your Caliendo jacket. Overall, i would like to know whether which you wear more often, which is more versatile? My usual trousers are grey and rather earthy tones, together with blue.

Also, what is your opinion on cacciopoli cloth, which I am eyeing for the jacket above (320gr. Donegal cloth), if I may ask?

Simon- Sorry, late to the party on this one. Your jacket here was made by Neapolitan tailor Caliendo, but the shoulder doesn’t show that traditional Neapolitan bunching and extra fabric that makes the giacca alla camicia, if I’m getting the phrase right. What am I missing? Phil

The spalla camicia refers to a way of constructing the shoulder, where the sleeve looks like it runs under the shoulder. It doesn’t have to have those wrinkles, that’s about where you put fullness. The amount Neapolitan tailors put in varies a fair bit. This does have a little

Firstly just want to say that I am a massive fan of your website and have been following it closely for a few years now.

I am really interested in commissioning an oatmeal jacket but I am not sure of which material I should go for. Ideally I would like to wear the jacket in the office and would want something not too casual. Would a wool/silk/linen with a loose weave be too casual? Or should I go for something like a cashmere or flannel.

Avoid flannel – often it doesn’t have enough texture for a jacket. Cashmere would be the smartest of those options and the most business like, with w/s/l next. Hard to know whether it would be too casual though, without knowing your office well…

I’ve been combing through your entire look book looking at the different Neapolitan shoulder expressions and noticed that there each tailor has their own interpretation of the Neapolitan shoulder.

My favorite would be the shoulders from Elia Caliendo – unlike most Neapolitan tailors, he doesn’t embellish the shoulder with puckering and pleats. Instead, he does a true shirt shoulder construction with a visible shoulder seam that truly looks just like a dress shirt shoulder. I, like many others, dislike the pleated sleevehead + rollino effect look as I feel it is too flashy.

In the post, he says that a pleated sleevehead and a shirt shoulder construction can be mutually exclusive and are two separate things. For people who like a neater look, Manton says that it is possible to retain the fullness through pressing open the shoulder seam.

Am I correct to say that Elia employs a shirt shoulder method, and not a pleated sleevehead? There might be very subtle wrinkling but definitely nowhere as showy as other tailors I’ve seen.

Hi Bernie. Manton is right, they are very different. Having a shirt shoulder construction doesn’t mean you have to have that extra fullness at the top of the sleeve that causes the ripples. Others do this less too: Pirozzi, Zizolfi, Ciardi and Panico for example. It is the more traditional Neapolitan style. Our Tailors Style series will go through this in a lot of detail when I compare them all individually

Looking forward to the continuation of your Tailors Style series as I’d enjoy a much more in-depth and detailed look at shoulder expression and other nuances.

For Elia, how would you describe his shoulders? For me, I don’t like the pleating and puckering in the shoulder seam but quite like the subtle and natural wrinkling in the sleevehead/bicep area. Your caliendo jackets seem to achieve fulllness in a different way compared to the pleated sleevehead approach. They seem so natural yet soft with fullness.

I’m about to commission a bespoke jacket and I’d like to know Elia’s shoulder expression so I can hopefully emulate it, thanks!

It will be hard to describe to a tailor, but you might get close if you ask for a classic, full sleeve (so the upper arm is a decent size and not skinny) but not too much of that fullness worked in at the top of the sleevehead rather than underneath it

To achieve that natural, full look, does Elia press open the interior shoulder seam at the top to smooth out potential puckering and prevent roping? I read that if he presses open the seam to smooth out the shoulder, the fullness and excess cloth is forced down into the upper arm/bicep area. I would quite like that effect, as you’ve pointed out many times that bigger sleeves makes you look more masculine (your blue star AS jacket is the best example in my humble opinion). Is this effect of transferring fullness what you meant by working the fullness underneath the sleevehead?

In my eyes, his shoulder is the closest to a true shirt shoulder sans pleated sleevehead out of any other Neapolitan tailors you’ve used. How he manages to still incorporate fullness in a natural way is just miraculous to me, and I truly respect his work. I read that such a construction requires a top stitch, hence why you see visible pick stitching close to the seam on Elia’s shoulders. I’ve seen tailors actually emphasize that topstich with a swelled edge for stylistic effect as well. Whether it was done via machine or hand does impact how pronounced it is.

Manton says that the tell-tale sign of a spalla camicia is that there appears to be a ridge on the shoulder side…Because there are three layers of cloth on the shoulder side but only one on the sleeve side. This creates the fluting or rainfall effect, which is separate and distinct from the puckering from excess fullness. Is that correct?

Lastly, Elia uses no padding/wadding in the shoulders, right? Or does he use a little at the edge to create a slightly extended shoulder to allow a little more fullness (just like Saman Amel did for your LP MTM jacket)?

Thank you for answering my barrage of questions – ever since I’ve read your writing I’ve gone from buying off the rack at SuitSupply to planning a bespoke commission. I’m 24 as well, the same age you embarked on your sartorial journey. Thank you for your guidance, I really appreciate it!

I think it’s worth waiting for later coverage to go into this in more detail. But briefly: – No he doesn’t press open the shoulder seam, but that doesn’t really affect the bicep area or roping. Roping comes from the sleevehead wadding and cut of the sleevehead. Think of them separately to the shoulder. Fullness is not pressed down from shoulder to sleeve either.

– The fullness I refer to is the size of the sleeve, which is bigger than the armhole and therefore has excess that has to be worked into the armhole somewhere. You can leave more at the top if you want

– Yes, Manton is right.

– Elia uses a thin pad. Most Neapolitans use that or just two layers of felt

Lastly, in terms of canvas, do Neapolitan tailors like Elia use a special lightweight canvas in a certain material like wool?

And do they use multiple pieces of canvas or just a single chest canvas? Elia and Dalcuore have a distinctly soft look that is very expressive, which I admire very much.

When I meet my tailor next week, I’ll tell him that I want a classic sleeve with the fullness fed more into the bottom of the sleevehead instead of the top to avoid the puckering/pleating on top that is so prevalent.

Bernie, I would warn you against trying to change what your tailor has been trained to do too much – a simple instruction like that isn’t necessarily enough, and won’t necessarily produce the effect you want. Suggest it to him, show him the end result ideally, but then don’t rely on getting exactly the same thing. Just perhaps closer than what he ordinarily does.

Bear in mind he spent years training to do it a certain way, again and again and again. (Also, he might be only the cutter and not the coatmaker, which makes things even more complicated.)

So many tailors tell me stories of tailoring enthusiasts going into them, trying to tell them how to cut a sleeve, even showing them a pattern. It’s rarely enough detail. And even if it is, it won’t necessarily come out right – just as that tailor’s first attempt to do something when he first started didn’t necessarily turn out right.

Plus, of course, doing something anew will take a lot more time so you’re asking him to do a lot more work for the same price.

On canvas, Italians use a lightweight canvas, usually linen or wool, and some use a small amount of horsehair too, some don’t.

Thank you for wisdom – I will definitely temper my expectations and keep your words in mind.

Looking forward so much to your coverage of the Neapolitan tailors like Elia in your Tailor style series to get an in-depth look of how the tailoring houses achieve their look and the subtle, yet distinct differences between them.

The most stunning example of a grey jacket w/trousers is Cary Grant in “To Catch a Thief”. He’s wearing a grey blazer (3 roll 2 if memory is correct) with stone trousers cut rather full together with a white shirt and ascot. Dame, he looks great in that outfit! Scenes shot in South France.

Would N6860 fill the grey SC gap or the light oatmeal/biege gap? I’m just looking at Spring/Summer fabrics right now, and prefer no wrinkling, light rumples are acceptable (I’m probably avoiding linen and only looking at wool…I hate when a jacket wrinkles in the elbow area like a dress shirt – what are your thoughts on these two fabrics: